Harris and Trump debate agrees on little except bashing China

Editor's note: Anthony Moretti, a special commentator for CGTN, is an associate professor at the Department of Communication and Organizational Leadership at Robert Morris University in the U.S. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily those of CGTN.

The much-anticipated debate between America's leading presidential candidates took place on Tuesday evening in Pennsylvania. It marked the first time that Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump had met since she officially became the Democratic Party nominee after incumbent Joe Biden quit the race.

The vision the candidates have for the country are quite different. Harris, a Democrat, espouses a progressive agenda, which demands a more active role for government in aiding the lives of Americans. Meanwhile, Trump, the Republican Party nominee, advocates that business and society continue to be freed of any unneeded regulations. However, in one area, the candidates agree: China must be considered a dangerous enemy, one determined to undermine the Western-created world order.

Trump delivered the first shot at China, stating how he thinks its economic practices undermine the U.S. In his words, China is one of the countries that has been "ripping us off for years." He soon turned attention to his support for tariffs, noting that he put them in place and the current administration never got rid of them.

"I took in billions and billions of dollars, as you know, from China. In fact, they never took the tariff off because it was so much money; they can't. It would totally destroy everything that they've set out to do." Viewed another way, Trump insists tariffs work, and they would remain a key element of his anti-China policy.

Later, Harris rebuked China for its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, a surprise to some experts because conservatives had scored plenty of political points over the past four years with that accusation. Nevertheless, her comments validate the point that politicians remain adamant that China is hiding critical information about how the pandemic began and soon spread in the final few weeks of 2019.

The bashing of China displayed by both candidates, but most notably Trump, should have surprised no one because it takes place all the time in the U.S. Perhaps the only surprise was that China did not get discussed more often. But remember, blasting China allows major and minor politicians to affirm their anti-China bona fides, and it is a staple of current political and media narratives. In election season, the tone and amount of the rhetoric sharply increases.

Recently, the Washington Post noted that there had been more than 170 campaign ads from Harris, Trump and many others seeking different political offices that somehow equate China with nefarious goals. Keep in mind that the election is roughly 55 days away, meaning there will be plenty more negative ads coming. In many of these ads, opposing politicians are accused – and often with the most flimsy of evidence – of not being fully on board with protecting Americans from China.

Much like being weak on Communism or insufficiently resolute in stopping Soviet expansion plans was an easy to throw around accusation during the Cold War, in America today, China is the boogeyman, the country hoping to destroy much of what America stands for.

According to the newspaper, the advertisements "play off voters' genuine anxiety about the role of a rising and more aggressive China on the world stage." Genuine anxiety? One is left to wonder how "genuine" that fear is considering the political and media elite tear into the Chinese government on a daily basis and hype the threat the country supposedly poses across the globe.

Because Americans are exposed to nonstop messages that claim China is reckless and dangerous, just how "genuine" can their anxiety be when the propaganda is relentless?

In the same Washington Post story, one analyst noted this: "China is not exactly wildly popular among Americans these days. There's a widespread view that they are guilty of intellectual theft and that they don't play by the rules."

Remember, those "rules" align with how the West believes everything from human rights, elections, loans to developing nations and more should be structured. Any nation that dares to think a different set of rules might be possible must be attacked. Washington, acting akin to the leader of a global religious movement, has the authority to excommunicate any nation that refuses to espouse Western orthodoxy.

The chronic negativity impacts public opinion. A recent Pew Research Center poll found that more than 80 percent of surveyed Americans say they have an unfavorable opinion of China, while only 16 percent indicated a favorable stance toward the country. The one ray of sunshine? Younger Americans hold a more positive view of the country, an attitude that provides hope that in the coming years the hostility toward China will be tempered.

Until that happens, if it happens at all, there remains a terrible irony in the U.S. and the West: The part of the world that proudly boasts about its commitment to a host of freedoms, including those of speech and the press, marginalizes voices that step outside the established guardrails when it comes to what can be said about China. Politicians, the media and leading think tanks endorse one philosophy: China is bad.

"Genuine anxiety" is the effect on the public.

(If you want to contribute and have specific expertise, please contact us at opinions@cgtn.com. Follow @thouse_opinions on X, formerly Twitter, to discover the latest commentaries in the CGTN Opinion Section.)